Air-brake apparatus.



H43. MILLER. AIR. BRAKE APPARATUS. APPLIGATIOIF FILED 1330.16, 1907-PATENTED JUNE 23, 1908.

"I'ZETED STATES PATENT 7 OFFICE; 1

HARVEY B. MILLER, or STAUNTLON, VIRGINIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF To JAMESA. BELL, or STAUNTON, VIRGINIA.

Ara-BRAKE APPARATUS.

To all whom itmayeoncem:

Be it known that I, HARVEY B. MrLLER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Staunton, in the county of Augusta and State of Virginia,have invented new and useful Improvements in Air-Brake Apparatus, ofcation. This invention relates to air brake ratus.

Air brake apparatus involving my invention canbe used on vehiclespropelled by- .steam, electricity, or any other motive agent and may beused as a part of or in connection with a system such as that shown inmy application for patent Serial No. 396,807, filed October 10, 1907, ofwhich the present ap lication is a division. Y

n connection with the train pipe I provide a valve'whi'ch is adapted tobe auto matically opened to reduce the pressure in the train pipe toeither stop or cause the slowing down of a train, or it may be a's'mglevehicle. In the resent case this valve is electrically eontro led and,when it forms a part ofor is an adjunct to the system mentioned, itsautomatic opening is caused when the train 1s in dangerous proximity toa secof-the system to which I have referred, for

' said valve-operating means can be used with advantage in otherconnections. I provide valve mechanism of a simple and advantaeouscharacter, and, by valve mechanism, I refer to the valve and the variouspartswhieh coaet therewith to cause the opening of the valve for thepurpose of reducing air ressure within the train pipe.

In the awing accom anying and forming a part of this speeirihation Irepresent fully one form of embodiment of the invention which, to enablethose'skilled in the art to ractice the same, will be set forth in detaiin the following description, while the novelty of the invention will beincluded in the claims succeeding said description.

In said drawing the apparatus is represented in sectional elevation andas mounted upon avehiele as 2. This vehicle may he the locomotive of atrain or it may be an electric car. The vehicle is equipped with a trainpi e 3 common in air brake apparatus, and sai .train pipe is: providedwith a suit- Specification of Letters Patent. I Qriginal applicationfiled October 10, 1907, Serial which the following is a specifigral.

Patented .Tune 28, 1908.

No. 396,807. Divided and. this application filed December 16, 1907,

Serial No. 406,748. p

"able valve as 4 by opening which the pressure of air in the train pipe3 can be reduced or exhausted to atmosphere byway of the nipple 5depending from the valve casing 6. By a partial opening of the valve 4the vehicle 2 may be caused to slow down. By

a further opening of thevalve the vehicle may be caused to sto I haveshown as astened to the stem of the valve4 an arm 7 provided with an adjustable weight 8 adapted to be maintained in its difierent adjustedpositions alon the arm 7 by a screw as 9 tapped throug the weight andadapted to engage the arm 7 The weighted arm constitutes a suitable andconvenient valveopening device and, in the present instance, when it ishorizontal, the valve 4 will be closed so as to prevent the escape ofair from the pi e 3- to theatmosphere by way of the nipp e 5.

I have shown as fastened to the vehicle 2 a board or plate 10represented as furnished at one end with a flange as 11. to which theelectro-magnet 12 is suitably fastened. To one pole of the m'agnet 12the wire 13 is connected and leads from the contact device 14 to whichit is electrically connected. From the other pole of the magnet a wireas 15 leads to ground. When therefore the contact device 14 engagesagainst an energized part such as one of the contact rails in the saidapplication 396,807, the magnet 12 will beenergizcd for the purposeofattracting its armature 16. The part 16,,i11 addition to serving as anarmature, also constitutes a detent or latch for normally holding theweighted arm 7 against shifting movement, and it is represented ascarried at the lower end of the lever 17 shown as fulcrumed be tween itsends to the board or plate 10. The lever 17 is provided on its upper andshort branch with an adjustable weight as 18 which is of a mass to causethe balancing of the two arms or branches of the lever; that is to say,the lever is a balanced one and it has in itself no tendency to swingabout its axis. Should, however, it be from any accidental causeslightly oil balance, the dilliculty can be easily remedied by theadjustment of the weight 18. The armature 16 constitutes a transversefoot for the lever and, if desired, the two parts may be inte- When themagnet 12 is deenergized the armature-detent l6 under the free end ofthe weighted arm 7 so as to prevent "said weighted arm from descendingin a direction to open the valve 4.. This relation in the present caseis, maintained in a positive man- 5' ner, for example, by the spring 19connected with the lower arm of the lever 17 and also with one end of ascrew as 20 taplped through a projection or lug as 21 on t e board orplate 10. By the operation of the screw 20 the tension of the spring 19can beregulated. This springholds t e armature-detent 16 in itsoperative position and moves it to such position when the magnet 12 isdenergiz ed. It will be assumed that the magnet is energized. When thisoccurs the armature-detent 16 is attracted and movedfrom under the arm7, whereby said arm can swing downward to open the valve 4. v

Themagnet is. provided with a casing or housing as 22 the outer'end ofwhich has an opening in which the armature-detent '16 is located at alltimes, the opening constituting a guiding means for the armature-detent;The core of the magnet is providecl with a tapered seat as 23 whichreceives the correspondingly shaped end of the armature-detent 16 whenthe said magnet is energized.

When used with a system such as'that illustrated in application 396,807the magnet 12 is energized as soon as the contact device 14 strikes acontact rail, the result being that 1 the armature-detent 16 isattracted by the manet and is moved'fromunder the free end of the arm7--for releasing said arm. soon as the magnet is deenergized the spring19, by acting against the lever 17, returns the armature-detent 16 toitsoriginal or op- -erative position at which time the said lever bearsagainst a stop as 24 which may consist of a pin on the board or plate10. The outer end of the armature-detent 16 has a beveled face 25engageable by the weighted arm 7 as the latter is returned to its normalosition by hand or otherwise. When t e said weighted arm 7 is nearlyhorizontal it engages and then rides along the beveled face '25 so as toswing the armature-detent 16 to the left, the motion continuing hntilthe said arm 7 passes free of said beveled face 25, at which point thespring 19 swings the armatore-detent under the arm.

I provide means, as will now appear, for adjusting the lengthof'movement o the arm 7 and, although the means may be of any desirablecharacter, it comprisesa stop or pin as 26 adapted to be placed in anyone of the series of erforati'ons or holes 27 formed the boar or plate10 in an arc concentric with the axis of motion of the arm 7. The pin 26is removably fitted in the lowermost perforation or hole 27 and themotion of the arm 7, when the same is released, will be continued untilthe arm strikesthe pin 26. .To 'reduce the motion of the arm 7 to thelowest 6 possible extent the pin 26 will be removed opening said valve,

ing arm fo'd opemngthe valve,

from the, lowermost perforation or seat and will be placed in theuppermost perforation orse'at. I

What I claim is: 1. The combination ofa train pipe, a valve 7( forcontrolling the discharge of air from said train pi e, a weighted armconnected with said va ve, a magnet having an armature constituting adetent for engaging and normally holding said weighted arm againstmovement when the magnet is denergized, and a swinging lever to whichsaid armature or detent is connected for movement therewith. g

2. The combination of a train pipe, a valve for controlling thedischarge of 'ai'r from said train pipe, automatically operable meansfor a. detent for normally holding said automatically-operable meansagainst movement, electrically o erable means for actuating the detentto e ect the release of said automatically' operable means to cause theo ening-of the valve, and means for varying t e amount of opening move--ment of the valve. 9

for controlling the discharge of air from said train pipe,automatically-operable means for openin the valve, a balanced lever, adetent movab e withsaid lever and adapted to hold 9 the automatically oerable means against. motion, an electrica ly-operable device foractuating said detent in a direction to release said automatically 0'erable means, and means for normally ho ding the detent in its 1efiectiv'e position. 1

4. The combination of a train pipe, a valve for controlling thedischarge of air from said train pipe, automatically-o erable means foro ening said valve, a ba anced lever pro'- vided with a detent forholding the automatically-operable means against movement, a springacting against the leiger to maintain t e detent normally in itsoperative position, i and electrically o erable means formoving thedetent away om the automatically-operableuneans. r Y

5. The combination of a" train pipe, a valve for, ,oontrolling thedischar e of air from the pipe, an automatica y swinga part having aseries of! 'seats arranged on an arc concentric with the axis ofmotionof said arm, a pin to removably fit said seats to control theamount of motion of the arm, a detent ,for normally holding the armagainst movement, and means for operating said detent.

6. The combination of a train pipe, a valve for controlling thedischarge of air from the train pipe, automatically-operable means for.causing the opening of the valve, a lever provided with a detent fornormally holding the said automatically operable means againstaction, aspring actin against the lever to hold the detent norm y m operativePosition, and. a i'electricalli-o e'rab'le. held the sanie againstoperation, said detent 10 a device for causin thedetent-tqfreesal,auto-Q constituting an armature for said magnet. matically-operab emeans. In testimony whereofl have-hereunto set 7. The combination of atrain ipe, a y hand in presence of two subs'cribing wit- 5 iivalveforcontrolling the discharge 0f--8i1 l n'e'sses'. f fromsaid train'pipe,automatically operable a HARVEY BVMILLER. means for opemn said valve,and a lever Wit'Iie'fsses: I providedwith a etent to directly en age T IC.- A.:CROWELL,' said,automatically*operablmeans an Q to. 1 7 JOHN E.\STBDDARD.

